Ontario Marriage Annulment Laws

Compared to some other countries, Canada lets couples’ actions speak for themselves about whether they are a family unit.  You and your partner can form a common law marriage without the court’s intervention, and you can end your marriage without the court’s intervention.  If you get legally married, and the government issues a marriage certificate, your marriage cannot simply fade away, even if you and your spouse live separately and do not even know each other’s current contact information.  What happens if you find out, soon after you get married, that your spouse is very different from how he or she seemed before you got married, and what if you quickly realize that getting married was a mistake?  Must you go through the stressful and sometimes expensive process of divorce, or is there a simpler alternative?  The courts of Ontario will annul your marriage instead of dissolving it through divorce if certain legal conditions apply.  To find out more about marriage annulment in Ontario, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.

What Makes a Marriage Legally Invalid?

When the court grants an annulment, it means that the marriage never truly existed.  The difference between a marriage that legitimately began and then ended and a marriage that never existed is that the court must divide the couple’s marital property when dissolving a legally valid marriage.  If you have minor children, you must still formalize a parenting plan after an annulment, just like other unmarried former couples do.  If you want to annul your marriage, instead of getting divorced, you must prove that the marriage was legally invalid.

These are some situations where a marriage is legally invalid:

• At least one spouse was a minor when the couple married
• Your spouse was married to someone else or in a common law relationship with someone else when he or she married you
• The marriage took place without your consent, because your spouse coerced or defrauded you into marrying him or her, or because you were intoxicated or seriously ill when you got married
• You did not properly complete the legal procedures for solemnizing your marriage

Getting Out of a Brief Marriage Does Not Have to Be Complicated, Even If You Must Go Through a Formal Divorce

If you regret marrying your spouse by the time you have finished opening the wedding presents, the first step to getting out of your marriage is to acknowledge that, from a legal perspective, the marriage exists.  Getting divorced after a short-term marriage is far simpler than divorce cases where the couple built their lives together.  If you and your spouse were married less than a year, you probably own little marital property together, and most of your assets are property you owned before you married your spouse.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Marriage Annulment

A family lawyer can help you and your partner separate after being married to each other for a short time.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.

Source:

laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/A-11.4/index.html